Dee Discusses: Doctor Who 7.8

The show opens on the Doctor watching a couple meet, fall in love, get married, have a baby, and that baby grow up into Clara Oswin Oswald. Just like the creeper he is. He’s really trying to figure out how she showed up in two completely different places before and he has no idea why. All the same, he takes her on a journey to the “Rings of Akhaten.” Apparently seven planets move around this one sun and there’s a party going on. It seems that a chosen one is supposed to sing the “Grandfather” (God) to sleep so it does come back and … kill everyone? Anyway, Clara gets separated from the Doctor and meets a sweet little girl named Merry. She’s the chosen one, but she’s scared she will fail and let everyone down. Clara gives her confidence to go on with the show.

For whatever reason, the song is interrupted and Merry is taken by this strange bubble and taken to some hidden fortress closer to the sun/star. The Doctor and Clara grab on a scooter spaceship, although Clara has to give up one of her personal items – her dead mother’s ring – in order for them to get there. The Doctor manages to open this extremely heavy door with his screwdriver and they try to convince Merry she doesn’t have to give her life away to the God. There’s this monster in a glass box, but when it gets out, it turns out the monster is just an alarm clock for the real god. Ooookay. Whatever.

The god is the sun/star itself which feeds off memories, stories, and potential. There’s a lot of speechifying in this episode where the Doctor sacrifices himself with all his stories. But then Clara realizes the answer is the pressed leaf in her book that her father said was the most important thing on Earth since it made her parents meet. For whatever reason that overfeeds the god and the light goes out? Wait what about the sun? Don’t all of these planets gravitate around it? Wasn’t this whole commerce thing surrounding the festival? Wasn’t this like thousand years of history and now what are they supposed to do? But seriously wouldn’t that severely alter the planets around it, because if the Earth’s sun went out, we’d all be screwed. Okay whatever it’s Doctor Who. The day is saved. Clara remembers the Doctor from her mother’s funeral and calls him out on it.

The episode was good. I liked it more than last episode, and I liked that one too. My favorite Doctor Who episodes are usually when it’s on another planet, and I feel like it’d been some time before they did something wondrous and flashy for us. It makes sense because the Doctor was intentionally trying to impress her. I liked most of the visuals, the music was nice. It got a little too cheesy for me in spots, but overall I liked it. I still think Clara’s very similar to all of Moffat’s women characters. Her storyline in this and most of her lines, I could close my eyes and easily transport Amy into that role. But I continue to enjoy the actress and she’s charming. As you can see in the episode wrap up I was going O.o a lot at the plot, but I stopped questioning some of these plots a long time ago. It’s Doctor Who. It doesn’t always have to make sense. I’m glad that Clara called him out on stalking her when she was younger. I’m really not a fan of the Doctor meeting his companions as children. I like that she made it clear she wasn’t going to be a replacement and she wasn’t having any of his funny business. Slow clap for Clara. I think she’s on board for the excitement, but she already does seem like someone who doesn’t tolerate BS very well. She’s a little sharper than the others. Maybe more like a mix of Rory and Amy, with Rory’s more skepticism thrown in there.

I feel like Moffat is trying to make us think too much about the mystery too. It’s like with every time he goes Doctor Who he likes how clever he is. I am on board the ‘what the hell is up with her?’ train, but I don’t need the Doctor saying multiple times an episode that it’s all a big mystery and shouldn’t happen. I get it. It’s a big deal. You’re shilling the story to me. Also the Doctor’s whole monologue just made me roll my eyes. But those are pretty small criticisms. It was decent. Not great. But decent. I sort of wish Dalek Clara was still around. I just liked the concept of a Dalek companion, okay?